Rob
Roy MacGregor was the chief of the Clan Gregor who styled themselves
the "Children of the Mist." The clans motto was "Royal
is our race," and they were descended from a brother of
the great Scottish king Alpin. Lately of course the story of
Rob Roy has been made into a feature film of the same name and
indeed this is one of the things that prompted me to write this
little piece about the famous "reiver and retriever."

Unlike
Braveheart, Rob Roy stuck closer to the truth of the matter,
but even so, some things were obviously changed for artistic
license. What I intend to do in this article is to tell his
story in as straightforward and concise a way as possible. I
will try to avoid the film as much as possible unless needs
be. Here then is the story of Rob Roy: Scotland in the late
17th/early to mid 18th Century was a turbulent place with many
events of importance taking place that would shape this nation
in the centuries to come. James VII of Scotland and II of England
had been replaced by William of Orange, whose victory at the
battle of the Boyne in Ulster is the stuff of legends in some
circles. Many attempts were made to bring the Stewart Kings
back to the throne and these would be known in some circles
as the "Jacobite rebellions," though I personally
would prefer to call them the "Jacobite wars." As
much as these were a war with those who it was thought were
usurpers of the crown, in fact it could be said that it was
also a sort of civil war. Many families had members fighting
on either side depending on whether their sympathies fell with
the Protestant William of Orange, or the Catholic James. It
can also be said therefore that these "wars" were
also a tail-end effect of the "Killing Times" of the
mid to late 17th Century. How does this all tie in with the
story of Rob Roy I hear you ask? well all will be told in its
time, for these "wars" would have repercussions for
the Clan Gregor which would long outlast the events which caused
them.

Rob
Roy (Robert the Red) MacGregor:

The following is known for sure about Rob Roy: He was born in
1671 in Loch Lomondshire and was the youngest son of the 15th
"chief of the MacGregor's" the previously aforementioned,
"Children of the Mist." His father was Donald MacGregor
of Glengyle, a man who served it was said as a lieutenant in
the army of James VII . His mother was of the Campbell's of
Glenfalloch and Rob himself was Laird of Inversnaid. He is also
known to have owned the property of Craig Royston which lies
on the east side of Loch Lomond. Even in the times of The Bruce,
the area around Loch Lomond was Clan Gregor land.

Not much is known about Rob Roy's life, but a popular belief
is that he took the lead in an incident called the "Hership"
or "Devastation of Kippen" in 1691. Only one man was
killed in this incident therefore it can be said that the incident
was somewhat over-dramatized. The next stage of his life brings
us into the realm of the movie. During this period he lived
under the protection of the Graham, Duke of Montrose and followed
the fairly respectable career of cattle dealer. At that time
what little money was to be made in the Highlands mainly came
from the selling of black cattle to the Lowland areas and England
and considerable fortunes could be made in this way. Rob soon
developed a sound reputation and became known as a man who could
get his clients a fair price for their beasts and was renowned
as an honest man into the bargain. In the years then between
1691 and 1712, Rob led a fairly prosperous life and Montrose
confirmed upon him the rights to the properties of Inversnaid
and Glengyle, which of course were already Clan Gregor territories.
The peaceful days would inevitably come to an end for MacGregor
and his people, and if they had continued instead of ceased,
The story of Rob Roy may never have passed into popular history
and legend.Five years after the act of Union was passed between
the countries of Scotland and England thus creating what became
the "United Kingdom" (technically Scotland and England
now ceased to exist - at least that is how it was meant to be),
the cattle trade underwent severe depression. The times were
hard in 1712 and many went hungry in the highlands. Rob himself
had been cheated by a client of his and found himself out of
pocket and insolvent.

Just
because he had no money of his own however didn't mean he didn't
have access to other peoples. Indeed Rob had been given the
sum of 1000 pounds by his clients. One of these was Montrose
his protector. Faced with many difficulties, both financial
and also how to feed his clan, as famine had come to Scotland
that year amongst other things, Rob made off with the money
and thusly exchanged the life of cattle dealer for that of bandit.

For
his part, Montrose immediately took action and confiscated MacGregor's
lands, forcing his wife and family out in the process from the
house they occupied. From that day on, there would be no more
peace between MacGregor and Montrose. Being that his mother
had been a Campbell and indeed his wife was of that clan, Rob
sought the protection of the Duke of Argyll. This was a logical
move to make as the Campbell's and Graham's had forever been
in feud, indeed it could be said that they were hereditary enemies
to some extent and both had many scores to settle with one another.
Argyll, as well it can be said, found it useful to have Rob
at his disposal. He was still a man of renown and was known
well, therefore if anyone could make difficult tenants or political
opponents fall into line then it was he.

The
MacGregor came out on the side of the Stewart kings during the
Jacobite Wars, but Argyll, Rob's protector, was known to support
the new monarch and was a Whig. Rob called himself a Jacobite,
but it might be that he was a spy for both sides during the
conflicts. This enabled him to claim that any who supported
the "Revolution Settlement," or those who supported
the act of union with England as legitimate targets for his
Clansmen's brigandry, unless they were prepared to buy him off.
A very early form of protection racket it would appear. Those
who paid him off were given his word that he would protect their
lands, those who did not, soon found themselves literally minus
cattle etc!

ROB
ROY AND THE JACOBITES:

The
Jacobites were of course the followers of the claim of King
James VII to the Throne of the United Kingdom. They took their
name from the Latin for James which is Jacobus. Predominantly
Catholic or Episcopalian in composition, they led many campaigns
in the latter half of the 17th until the mid 18th Century. As
the Clan Gregor was a Catholic clan, as were most of the other
clan's, Rob's sympathies lay primarily with the Jacobite's,
though as I have said previously, it is more than likely that
he was spying for both sides in these conflicts. At the indecisive
battle of Sherriffmuir in 1715, it was said that Rob took no
part in the proceedings, but instead stood from a safe vantage
point with the rest of his Clan and watched events unfold before
him. In the end the battle was declared a draw, as such being
an indecisive one. When Rob joined the Jacobite army, he was
sent by their leader the "noble" Earl of Mar to recruit
from the members of the Clan Gregor settled in North East Scotland.
Later he even acted as a guide on the armies march from Perth
to Dunblane.

One
reason why he might not have taken an active role in the battle
was that his protector, commanded the Hanoverian's, and Rob
had no high opinion of the abilities of the "noble"
Mar. So despite being a Catholic, his sympathies would be somewhat
divided between the two camps. After the war of 1715 collapsed
for the Jacobites, Rob wrote a letter to Field Marshal Wade
(later General Wade of infamy) claiming that the rebellion had
been forced upon him, it was either that he said or be thrown
into prison, on the account of the action he had earlier committed
against Montrose. He went on to say that this indeed would have
happened if he had followed his own instincts and fought with
the Hanoverian army during the war. He also said that he supplied
Argyll with intelligence's from time to time, as to the strength
and composition of the "rebel" army. Again a ring
of truth in this, as Argyll certainly never removed his protection
from Rob, which you may have expected having fought on opposing
sides.

Rob
survived Sherriffmuir by almost 20 years and in the time afterwards
it appears he continued his brigandry, and had his finger in
more than one illegal pie no doubt. Of these incidents the kidnap
of Montrose's factor, John Graham of Killearn, whilst the same
was collecting the rent owed to the Duke was the most notorious.
Rob grabbed the money and even gave receipts to those who had
paid already, then he held Killearn to ransom. In the end the
factor was released unharmed, but if the movie is to be believed,
he was murdered by Rob's younger brother. Rob's infamy reached
far outside his Trossachs lair and whilst still alive a highly
dubious biography was written about him called "The Highland
Rogue," being published in London. Such was his repute
that mother's would often tell their children to behave or the
"Red MacGregor" would get them . Indeed Rob was captured,
but managed to escape on more than one occasion by using his
guile and cunning. It eventually came to pass that Rob was captured
(he didn't escape this time) and thrown into London's Newgate
Prison to await transportation to the colonies as a "bonded
servant," in other words, little more than a slave. In
1726, whilst still at Newgate he received a full pardon and
returned to Scotland there to live out his last few years.

On
his return to Scotland Rob moved to Balquhidder, practically
a hero, almost becoming like a Scottish "Robin Hood"
like character. Here he died at the age of 63 years in 1764.
After Rob's passing the Highland's had roads and, as a result
of improved communications, law and order. A tale is told that
when Rob was lying on his death bed awaiting his maker an old
foe-man of his came calling upon him. Upon hearing this Rob
rose from his death-bed and armed himself to the hilt. "Never
let it be said that any enemy of MacGregor ever saw him defenseless
and unarmed," were purportedly his words. When the offending
person had been
shown the door, Rob is reported as supposedly saying:

"Now
it is all over - let the piper play "Ha til mi tulidh (we
return no more)," and before
the lilt of the tune had drawn to an end, he slipped away from
this to a better world.

Clan
Gregor after Rob Roy:

After
the passing of Rob Roy the Clan Gregor continued to support
the Jacobite cause and after the debacle of the '45 they were
one of the Clan's most ardently sought out for elimination by
the Government forces. This was following the draconian "Act
of Proscription" which was introduced in 1747 and stayed
in force until 1782 when it was repealed. This Act of course
affected more than the Clan Gregor. It basically made it illegal
for anyone to wear Highland dress (unless they were in the military),
banned the use of Clan names and even the music was banned.
Indeed anything that could be deemed to have a highland connection
was outlawed. The Clan Gregor was one of the Clan's sought out
for the harshest treatment, perhaps because of the supposed
deeds of their chiefs. Their name was not restored to them until
ten years after Rob Roy's death, that is, it was illegal to
use the name MacGregor until 1774. Many defiant Highlander's
were hunted down and in the plaid's of their forefather's were
shipped abroad as bonded slaves to the colonies (especially
Virginia) or the West Indies.

If
you would like to visit Roby Roy country as part of a highly personalized
small group tour of my native Scotland please e-mail me: